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Cardinals could lose nearly $120M in revenue if NFL plays without fans in stadiums

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Because of the coronavirus pandemic, how the NFL plays its 2020 season is unknown. While other professional sports leagues have been on hold, the NFL season is still months away.

That said, there is a possibility that, if the NFL season begins on time in September, it could be that games are played with no fans in the stadium.

That would cause franchises to lose a lot of potential revenue from ticket sales, merchandise sales in the stadium, concessions and parking.

How much revenue?

Forbes put together a list of the stadium revenue each team would lose. In all, teams would lose an estimated $5.5 billion in total stadium revenue, which would account for 38% of total revenue, based on 2018 numbers.

According to the list, the Arizona Cardinals would lose $119 million in stadium revenue, which is far less than others. That would rank 23rd in the league.

The team who would lose the most revenue are the Dallas Cowboys, who would lose an estimated $621 million.

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The Arizona Cardinals re-signed running back Kenyan Drake this offseason on a one-year transition tag deal, which will pay him almost $8.5 million in 2020. He rushed for 643 yards and eight touchdowns in eight games after being acquired via trade.

Over a 16-game season, that projects to 16 rushing touchdowns, which is the franchise record in a season.

Can he set a franchise record in 2020? Where can he finish season?

Seven players have finished with at least 10 rushing touchdowns. Check them out below.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire's Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red.

The 2020 NFL season could be impacted significantly financially with the possibility of less or no fans in stadiums for at least part of the season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That could significantly impact the salary cap in 2021, according to NFL.com's Ian Rapoport.

Rapoport reports the league is potentially looking at a drop of at least $40 million in the salary cap in 2021, depending on the revenue that comes in this season.

According to Rapoport, the league wants to avoid this and keep the salary cap flat, at worst. He suggests the league is thinking of potentially...